OMGKITTIES!!!

What I haven't mentioned on the blog before is that my cat, Mushu, is pregnant. Or, WAS pregnant until just a few days ago. At midnight on Wednesday night/Thursday morning she started meowing really loudly. I found her in Zusha's bed and took her to the basement so she doesn't wake him. She continued meowing and returned to Zusha's bed, sitting on his pillow and meowing right into his ear.
Of course, that woke him up. At first I tried to move Mushu somewhere else- the basket we prepared for her birth. But she just wanted to be in Zusha's bed. I told him to climb up to the top bunk to sleep next to Gedalya, but she followed him there as well!

I explained that she might be having babies, but it's not a reason to stay up, and he should try to fall back asleep.

Throughout the commotion, Gedalya woke up as well, and I allowed them both to come down from the top bunk because it became obvious that Mushu will go wherever Zusha goes. So both boys were lying quietly on the bottom bunk bed, when I noticed Mushu licking something... something that wasn't part of her. I turned on the light, and...

The first baby has been born!

We watched as more and more babies were born. Two, then three, then four...
The first one to be born was solid gray. The second one we thought was a tuxedo cat like Mel, but when his fur dried, we saw he was gray and white, not black and white. The rest of the babies were calico/tortoiseshell like Mushu.

We set up a playpen for her and put inside a laundry basket draped in cloth.

At this point it was 3 or 3:30 AM. I shooed the boys to the top bunk (Mushu gave birth on the bottom one and I didn't have the energy or the time to change sheets) and went to bed myself.

I was sleeping for no more than 15 minutes when the boys came barging into my room with more news. Mushu had her FIFTH baby next to them on the top bed. :0 I picked the baby up gently with a washcloth and placed her in the basket with her siblings.

Here are two of the calicoes:

One of the kitties rolled away and snuggled into the folds of a blanket when I took this photo:

The adorable little brood. The greys are boys and the calicoes are all girls. Aren't they so sweet! We're looking for good homes for them all when they are old enough to leave their Mama. If anyone wants one or knows someone who'd want one, let me know!

Down to Business

I've got a party to throw tomorrow, but here I sit, updating my poor, neglected blog.

Hello, world! Adi turned three!
Contrary to Gedalya's belief that she *can't* turn three because she knows what "ama-ah" means. "Ama-ah" is Adi's word that she uses when she doesn't know what else to say. She might call me, "Mama. Mama. Mama. Mama." And I say, "Yes, Adi?" And of course, Adi didn't have anything planned that she wanted to really say, so she says, "Ahhhma-ah."
What Gedalya really meant, of course, is that Adi still speaks baby language. But Zusha said, "Well, then you can't be five and a half, because you know what kuwana means and what kishkase means." (Triangle and cheesecake.)
Gedalya considered this and allowed Adi to turn three.

We had a mini party on her real birthday on Simchas Torah, and tomorrow (today? Whatever, Monday afternoon) we are having an official thing with party blowers, cake, and a crown.

And I don't think I have mentioned this on my blog yet... Adi will be going to school!
Next week Tuesday is her first day. Wowowow. We will say our goodbyes to the therapists. :( Two years... They have invested themselves emotionally into my baby, and now- this is it? It will be a hard goodbye. Or rather, five hard goodbyes.

I made a photobook for one therapist and photo tote bags for two others. I still have two therapists that I need to think of gift ideas for, and soon! I don't have enough photos of them with Adi to make a whole book.

On Tuesday Adi will join me on a fun trip to the geneticist. We haven't gone in over a year. We had hit a dead end. The doctor has tested her for everything he could think of that she might possibly have. But as she gets older, some traits and features come up or become more prominent. He might be able to think of something else. I mean, she wasn't even walking last time that we went!

So I will post some videos of Adi doing daily things. The geneticist is really someone special. How many specialists are there that would go to a patient's blog to get a look at some things they wouldn't be able to see in a short office visit?

Yom Tov is over, and I am diving head first into reality!

And as promised, the photos of my second day of owning my new camera... playing around with it and learning the ropes.

Silly kitten Mushu.

Looking at the weehees... er, fishies... in the pond.

See them?

Gedalya's bounty. Plant paraphernalia never ceases to make this little boy happy.

9th Week of Summer Vacation

Last week of August, first week of September.



On Sunday there was supposed to be a hurricane. But it seems it overlooked New York, because by midday the sun was out and the day was beautiful.
So we went out to assess the damage.
There was a crack in our house before we moved in, but it was cemented. It seems that between the earthquake and the hurricane, it opened up. It's about 5 feet long and an inch or two wide. We're still fighting with the landlord to get it fixed. Meanwhile I get rainwater all over the kitchen each time it rains. :(

Gedalya had a great time collecting acorns, pretty leaves, branches and unusual seed pods that littered the ground after the storm. Here's a cute lineup of acorns.

We was many smallish branches that had fallen off of trees, but this one was big. Of course, the boys had to check it out.

The entire top of a tall tree snapped off, and one car wasn't having a very lucky day.

My mother in law and sister in law came to visit. Since no trains were running, they walked about 2 miles each way to visit us, if not more.

Silly seed pods...

Monday: Zusha made a dinosaur at the library.

We saw a cute little cricket in our yard.

And we cuddled with Mushu.

Tuesday was a super fun day! We went to Manhattan to visit friends.

It was a long, fun day... too long for this post, in fact.
We were all hungry and tired when we came home. We went to a pizza store, where Adi did this:

On Wednesday I got a new camera! I wanted a more professional one... one step closer to being a professional photographer. I had listed my old one on eBay, and it sold! The day I got my new one, we went to the post office to ship the old one out.

On the way we saw more hurricane carnage. Fun type of carnage.

Stopped off at Eichler's to listen to music...

And took a ride.

Tested the new camera on some scenery.

More fun destruction.

"In! Bock!" Adi said. So I put her in the box. :)

Thursday:
I was playing around with the new camera too much... too many photos for this post! 

Friday:
Adi's first braids! It's been just a month since my first attempt, and it's become one pf my favorite hairstyles for her. Two braids, half a braid, pigtails that are braided...
I finally discovered that I need to wet the hair first.

Look out for more braid photos in future posts!

Week 6

I edited these photos a while ago, and was so happy that I was only a week behind, but then life happened.

2nd week of August:

Sunday:
Guess what? We have a new kitten!

We found her outside. Adi claimed her and didn't let go.

So we decided to take her home!

Her name is Mushu. Isn't she gorgeous?

On Monday we drank a lot of Vitamin Water in preparation to Tisha B'Av the next day. I fasted pretty well!
The next day is when all the fun began.

Wednesday:
Adi's evaluation at school. It went well! I packed up her backpack, to help her associate it with school. How cute is it?

She had evals is special ed, speech, OT and PT.

Here she is drawing pictures in OT.

And "cutting." Boy, was I relieved when the scissors were safely out of her hand again!

She did very well and only tantrummed a little towards the end! When we were done, she joined the kids in the yard. They were playing hide and seek. See a cute little face hiding under the slide?

 Later that day: Dentist visit for the boys!

Friday we went to get Gedalya's stitches out!
Gedalya got trapped in a phone at a bus stop. :)

One last look at the stitches! It looks so much better. The removal wasn't that painful... it was over in a few minutes.

On the way back from the doctor.

Gedalya was walking down the station steps, saying, "Look, Mama! I am bending my knee!"

Even though it was Friday, I took the kids to Target as a "bravery" prize for Gedalya.
We saw a bird there! A little sparrow got stuck indoors. The workers knew about it and were working on getting it out. Hope they were successful.

More busy week recaps to come!